Well, being gone for almost six months paid off, I supposed. I no longer needed clones or anger to use fire, water, earth, and wind. I was still taking my medication however. When could I throw them away?

I aimed a roundhouse kick to Robin's chest. He easily ducked and then aimed a punch to my gut. I spun to the right to dodge and get behind him. Producing a clone next to me, I held my hand out to him, a small flame forming. The clone spun his hands around it, helping me turn it into a fireball. Robin turned around right as I aimed the ball at his chest. He was sent flying back after it hit him. After rolling over a few times, he got back to his feet and whipped out his bo staff. He twirled it around impressively a few times before running at me.

Whipping out my own staff, I extended it at my side and ran towards him. Our staves clashed as we struck out at each other.

"You plan on cheating this time?" Robin asked.

I pushed the hero back and snorted jokingly.

"When do I cheat?"

Throwing my staff into the air I performed a few hand signs and then called in a few clones. I grabbed my staff after it came back down and ordered my clones to attack a not-too-surprised Robin. Holding my arm out to the one next to me, I formed a flame. The clone helped form it into a ball. Throwing it up in the air once it was fully formed, I gripped my staff like a baseball bat and swung it. The fireball flew behind a clone. Right when Robin destroyed it, the fireball appeared. His eyes widened when it caught him in the chest. He flew back, crashing several times into the floor. I was about to run over to him to attack when something landed on my shoulder.

Grabbing the hand and arm, I pulled the Slade-bot over my shoulder, making it crash into the floor. I yanked its arm back, breaking it off. After throwing it to the floor, I spun around and kicked another bot coming at me from behind. It flew back into another robot, both crashing into the floor. Putting my staff away, I created nine clones.

"Attack with everything," I told them. "These guys are weak."

"Right!"

My clones sped off, fists and kicks at the ready. Spinning around, I ran towards Robin, who was fighting off his own set of robots. I performed a few hand signs as I went.

"Tiger, monkey, tiger, boar!" Holding my right hand at my side, blue Chakra formed around it, much like the Chidori, Jutsu of a thousand birds. Mine had a much more different name. Jumping into the air, I came down towards a robot's head. I aimed my hand for it, shouting, "Wolf Fist of Fury!"

Touching the Slade-bot's head, I forced it down to the floor. I landed on one knee, smashing the head into tiny pieces. Quickly standing up, the Jutsu vanished and I attacked another bot with a right fist.

Ten minutes later and Robin destroyed the final robot. My Wolf Fist of Fury slowly dissipated. He didn't even give me a chance to use it.

"H-How many did you get?" Robin asked, out of breath.

I, too, was out of breath.

"Thirty; you?"

"Damn; twenty-nine."

Lifting my right arm, I placed my left hand in the crook of my elbow and grinned.

"Blame the Chakra baby; hehe!" I stretched out my arms above my head. I yawned. "I'm ready for bed."

"It can wait." Looking past Robin, I saw Slade standing behind him. Robin turned to face him. "Rocky, I have to explain your mission to you in a few nights." Nodding, I walked past Robin, said good night to him, and left with Slade. He led me to a small office and sat down behind a desk. "Sit."

To me, Slade wasn't the office type. I sat in the vacant chair. Slade pulled out a blank folder before sliding it towards me. Stopping it with my hand, I opened it. I scanned the page, my eyes widening. Looking up, I glared at him.

"Cooper Industries?" I asked angrily. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"I never joke," Slade said, standing up. "The scientists at this facility have been creating a radioactive hyper beam that can destroy a whole city in seconds." I glared at the desk. I heard Slade walk around it. "As of now there is a small prototype with a disk that controls it." Slade was now behind me, gripping my shoulders. "I want you to steal it for me."

I held in the urge to growl.

"I can't," I said angrily. "Cora's my friend-"

Slade's grip tightened. I growled this time, my eyes clenched shut.

"She is not your friend anymore," he said, "they never were. They lied to you, kept your powers a secret, and betrayed you. You are my apprentice and you will do exactly what I say if you want the Titans to keep on living their pathetic lives. I will annihilate them and I will make you watch. Are we clear?"

Opening my eyes, I glared.

"Yes sir."

"Good boy," Slade said. He took his hands off my shoulders and stepped back. "Get some rest. You will need it for the long drive in a few days."

"Yes sir."

Standing up, I left the office, Slade following right behind me. We returned to the training room. I walked past Robin, who followed after me with his gaze. Returning to my room, I looked at my bottle of sleep pills and glared at them.

'I have yet to complete my new attack,' I thought. 'I won't sleep until it's finished.'

Around three in the morning, I snuck out of my room and went into the training room. I created nine very tired-looking clones.

"It's three in the morning," one said, sounding very annoyed.

"Yeah, what are we doing here?"

"Just shut up," I said. "I need one of you to stand beside me." One of my clones appeared by my side. "The rest of you, get into pairs." My clones did what they were told. "Now one out of each pair, one of you make a flame, one make water, one make wind, and one make earth." It took my clones a while to decide who created what. Once they were ready, I continued, "Now the other clone of the pair, form your element into a ball, like we've always done. Then give them to me."

The clones created their given elemental ball within minutes. I held my right hand out to the clone next to me. The clones with the balls came forward and placed them into my hand.

"Now stand in two lines, one clone behind another." As they did what they were told, I looked to my other clone. "I want you to form a ball with all four elements." Nodding, my clone moved his hands around mine. The balls slowly swirled together. I concentrated on them as they formed into one black ball with a mix of the different colors of each element; red, blue, white, and brown. "Alright, now stay where you are clones as I attempt to destroy you all."

The clone next to me vanished in a puff of smoke. Holding my arm out from my side, I curled my fingers around the swirling ball and then threw my hand forward. The black ball flew at my clones. They braced themselves for contact. I growled when only the first two rows vanished in smoke. Only four clones remained and the ball was gone. I sighed.

"Okay, let's try this again…"

The last two nights I had snuck into the training room to perfect my new attack. I hadn't come up with a name yet. I kept using the same technique with my clones. They were slowly getting sick of me for using them so much. Tonight I would only have four clones for pairs. Two of them in a pair would create two different elements; fire with water, earth with wind.

"How many more times do we have to do this," one clone that was making fire and water asked.

"Until I harness this new attack," I said. "We're almost there, I promise. Then we can go to bed." This got my clones to work harder. They soon gave me their elemental balls in my hand. "All ten of you stand in a line." They got into two lines, five in each. The clone next to me swirled the elements together to create one big ball of black. "Alright; I'm ready."

My clone vanished. Gripping the ball tightly, I threw my arm forward. It flew towards my clones, crashing into all ten of them. They vanished with loud poofs. The ball slowly vanished the farther it went.

"Now I have to see how it holds against twenty clones."

"You will have to try some other time."

My body froze and my breath hitched in my throat briefly.

"I know I should be asleep, but-"

"No, its fine," Slade said. I turned around to face him. "It's quite remarkable really. Even Raven would be overwhelmed."

I looked away.

"I should probably go to bed…"

"You can sleep in the car," Slade said. "It is six in the morning. Today is the day for your next assignment."

I was silent momentarily.

"Why can't Robin do it instead?" I asked carefully.

"Robin has his own assignment here in Jump City," Slade said. "He will most likely face against the Titans. He knows all of their weaknesses. Besides, wouldn't you prefer being close to home?" I didn't reply. "Take a shower and then meet Wintergreen in the kitchen for breakfast."

"Yes sir."

Today was going to be a shitty day.

The ride up through California was boring. Thankfully I had been able to sleep almost the entire time.

"Will you be alright, young sir?" Wintergreen asked me when we crossed the border.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Oh yeah, I go around stealing from my friends all the time," I said sarcastically. I folded my arms over my chest and looked out the window. "God, how does someone like you work for a guy like Slade?"

"I have known Slade for many years," Wintergreen answered. "I helped him into the army when he was of illegal age, took care of him after his ex-wife shot him in the eye, and, despite everything he has done, I have stuck by him and will continue to do so."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"You're that devoted to a guy who kidnaps children, steals, does bad things, and possibly kills people?" I asked. "Either you are or you're just as fucked up in the head as he is."

There was a moment's silence before Wintergreen spoke again.

"I do not agree with every decision Slade makes, but I stand by him no matter what those decisions are. I know what he has done in the past and they may seem horrible, but there is more to Slade than meets the eye."

I frowned.

"Like what?" I asked.

Wintergreen shook his head.

"That is not for me to discuss," he said. "Maybe someday he will trust you enough to tell you."

I blinked.

"Yeah," I said, looking out the window again, "right."

Around six, we finally arrived in a forest area in Medford, Oregon, where we waited until sundown to make a move. I was glad I had worn pants because it was freezing. It was, after all, February.

"I will be waiting right here for you young sir."

I started to get out of the Hummer, saying, "Yeah, yeah, and stop calling me 'sir'. I'm only fourteen for Christ sakes."

After slamming the door shut, I stealthily made my way towards the building that was owned by Cora's adoptive father, Mr. Cooper. Reaching it ten minutes later, I shot my grapple and was pulled up soon after onto the flat roof. I pocketed the device and then found a place to put my bomb. A small explosion occurred, creating a hole. I jumped through, landing in a crouch like a cat. I looked around; I was in a small lab with glass cabinets and things you'd find in a science classroom. Looking to the right, I saw a door. I stood up straight and opened it with my mind as I approached it. Peeking around the corner, I looked to my right, going in that direction. Five minutes later and I found a door labeled TOP SECRET in silver. I unlocked it with my mind. It slid open and I stepped inside.

At the far end of the room sat a safe on a desk. I slowly approached it, regretting each step I took. Stopping in front of it, I swallowed. I stared at the safe for a long time.

They're not your friends anymore.

"What am I doing?" I asked with a growl.

My earpiece came to life.

"You're getting what I want."

I placed a hand on my head.

"But…I can't," I said with a glare. "I just can't."

"Yes you can," Slade said. "They lied to you, but I told you the truth. They're not your friends anymore."

"Yes. They. Are," I protested with gritted teeth. "Not telling me isn't the same as lying…" I paused, "is it?"

There was a long pause.

"Do as I command or you'll have four dead teens on your conscience."

That was the best he could come up with? I growled, thinking of the Titans lying dead at my feet and Robin hating me. My friends would understand why I did it…right? I lowered my hand. Placing it on the safe door, my Chakra surged through the steel and unlocked it from the inside. The door slowly swung open on its own accord, revealing the prototype and a red disk. I reached for them, but stopped, my hand shaking.

They're not your friends anymore.

My eyes narrowed into a glare. Growling, I yanked the items out and pocketed them.

"Slade, you're right," I said. I slammed the safe door closed and stepped away. "They're not my friends anymore."

"That's my boy."

Turning around, I walked back the way I had come and returned to the room I landed in. I quickly pulled myself up and ran across the roof.

"Rocky?"

I slid to a stop at the edge of the roof. Swallowing, I slowly turned around. Lea, Alan, Courtney, and Sheilee were standing behind me. I stared coldly at them. Sheilee stepped forward.

"Rocky, is that really you?"

I stepped back an inch, ready to jump if I had to.

"Don't tell them anything," Slade said dangerously into my earpiece.

Courtney glared at me.

"Give me back what you stole."

I growled.

"Why should I?" I asked angrily.

"Because I told you to," Courtney said. "That's what friends do. If you steal that, you'll put my father and his work out of business."

I snorted.

"Like it would matter," I said. "It's not like your family is hurting for money."

"That's not the point!" I growled. "The point is that you're not a criminal, you're my friend! Now give it back to me!"

I gave them a slightly surprised look.

"My friend?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, your friend," Cora said angrily.

I growled.

"If you were truly my friend, all of you wouldn't have kept my powers a secret," I said angrily. "You were never my friend!" I performed a few hand signs. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone appeared next to me.

"Dude, what is the matter with you?" Sheilee asked. "What do you mean we were never your friend?"

I growled at them, Chakra forming at my feet.

"All of you knew I had powers, but none of you told me!" I shouted angrily.

"There's a reason we didn't tell you, baka-head!" Cora said angrily.

"Yeah, I know why! Slade told me the reason why!"

"Then whatever he told you was a lie!" Cora shouted back. "We didn't tell you because we thought it was best not knowing! If you knew, you never would have been able to control them!"

That was the real reason why?

"That's what you thought, huh?" I asked quietly. Holding my hand out to my clone, I formed a small flame. The clone swirled it into a ball of fire. "It looks like you were wrong."

Forming a ball of fire in my other hand, I put the two flames together to make an even bigger one. Holding it in my right hand at my side, I ran towards them, fire trailing behind me. I chucked the fireball, making them scatter. Alan spun around and grew out his wolf claws and fangs. I aimed a punch for his face as he aimed a clawed hand for my chest. Ducking, I punched him in the gut and then a quick uppercut to his face. Alan was sent into the air.

Spinning around, I blocked a punch from Lea. She sent a flurry of them at my chest and face. I blocked all of them before spinning around and kicking her in the gut. She flew back and crashed into the floor. I heard a fist coming for the back of my head. Turning sideways, I grabbed Cora's arm with both hands and then threw her head-over-heels. It was a clone, as the puff of smoke clearly showed.

"Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu!"

Spinning around, I quickly summoned a wall of water and threw it at the fireball from the real Cora's Jutsu.

"Will you just listen to me?!"

To answer her, I ran forward, fist at the ready. Cora growled and charged, forming her own fist. We aimed them at each other. I socked her in the jaw. Cora flew back and crashed into the floor. The time for listening and talking was over.

"Chino; attack!"

Something slim, lanky, and furry landed on my head and sharp claws started attacking me. Chino, Sheilee's albino ferret, scurried around my shoulders, clawing anything he could get to. I tried to smack him off, but he was too fast. I spun around in place, trying to grab him. Snatching his tail, I pulled as hard as I could. His claws scratched my neck, drawing blood as he was pulled away. Tossing him to the floor, I lifted my foot to step on him. Alan suddenly appeared in front of me. He clawed me in the stomach and then used his palm to uppercut my chin. I crashed backwards several times, flipping and rolling. With a final roll, I fell over the edge.

"Gotcha!" Looking up, I saw Sheilee pulling me up. I grabbed the edge and then pulled up the rest of the way. We both stood up. "You okay?"

Sheilee cried out after I used my arm to hit her in the chest. Cora was running towards me, a Chakra fist at her side. After biting into my thumb to draw blood, I performed boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram with my hands.

"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

My sword appeared in my hand. Grabbing the hilt with both as Cora was feet from me, I quickly thrust forward. Blood splattered the floor and my shoes. Cora was hunched over my shoulder. I was glaring. Cora vomited up a bunch of blood. Standing up straight, I yanked my sword free and stepped to the side. There was a loud crash as Courtney fell to the floor. I made several clones to attack Alan and Ice, who were getting back up for another round. My sword vanished. Turning around, I summoned a chunk of earth and jumped onto it. As I started to lower to the bottom of the building, I collapsed from the pain in my abdomen and gut. The chunk of rock flew off right as an explosion occurred back at the building.

"On your feet Apprentice," Slade commanded.

I closed my eyes.

"I…c-can't…"

"You can and you will," Slade said. "Now get on your feet."

The rock fell to the forest floor. I lay there for a few seconds in silence. Slowly opening my eyes, I pushed myself up with my hands and stumbled to my feet. I placed my arm around my stomach and limped my way to the Hummer. Stumbling, I grabbed the side of the vehicle and made my way around to the passenger side. I tried to open the door with difficulty, feeling weaker every second. It soon opened and I stumbled back. My head started to throb painfully. I carefully walked back to the opening and grabbed the handle at the top. I pulled myself up with difficulty, collapsing into the seat. Reaching over, I closed the door.

"I heard the explosion young sir," Wintergreen said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said, closing my eyes instantly, "took an arm and a leg to get." I don't think Wintergreen got it as the silence now showed. I sighed. "Let's go back, Wintergreen."

"Yes young sir."

Closing my eyes, I instantly fell asleep.

"There were deep claw marks in his chest and stomach along with smaller scratches on his neck and scalp. He lost a lot of blood."

I heard voices, but I was too tired to care.

"Thank you, Wintergreen. Tend to Robin while I take Rocky to his room."

"Yes sir."

My chest and stomach were hurting. I felt a strong pair of arms lift my aching body up from whatever I had been lying on. My head rolled to the side, hitting what I could safely assume was Slade's armored chest. He walked out of whatever room we had been in and turned left…or was it right? My head pounded just thinking about it.

"Good work last night, apprentice," I heard Slade say. "You retrieved the prototype and the disk, turned on your friends, and fought them with great strength. I am very proud of you." A few minutes later and I was set down on something soft. Something warm and heavy was pulled over my aching body. "Good night, apprentice."

I heard Slade walk off. My eyes remained shut, even after the door closed. I felt myself drifting back towards darkness. Only one thought crossed my mind.

'Thank you…Slade-sama.'

The next few days were spent resting and healing. And surprise, surprise; I was finally rid of that stupid medication. I ate as much as I could to get my strength back fast. Bandages were wrapped securely around the claw marks to keep them from opening up. After four days I was back in the training room, kunai in hand. I had to make sure my Chakra level was still in perfect shape. Placing my hands together, I concentrated Chakra to my feet, my main focus on the wall in front of me.

I was about to run at the wall when a voice behind me asked, "What are you doing?"

Tripping, I fell flat on my face. Quickly recovering, I looked over my shoulder and glared at Robin.

"You made me lose my concentration," I said, annoyed.

Looking back at the wall, I went back to what I was doing. With kunai still in hand, I gripped it sideways tightly and then ran at the wall. Lifting my leg, I placed my foot on the smooth surface and then ran up it as high as I could go. When I felt my Chakra slipping away, I scratched a thick line in the wall before pushing off and back flipping back to the floor. I landed in a crouch like a frog.

"How do you do that?" Robin asked.

I looked at him over my shoulder.

"Its called Chakra control," I said, facing him.

"And how do you control Chakra?" he asked.

"Without excessive training like I've been through, you wouldn't be able to do it," I said.

"Well I know Martial Arts."

"This is different," I said. "If I had the ability to check your Chakra strength, I would tell you, but I don't. But if you wanna know…"

"Yeah, I do," Robin said.

Nodding, I began to explain this…

"There are two forms of Chakra," I explained. I put up one finger. "The first one is spiritual Chakra. You can't get excited or it won't work very well." I put up a second finger. "Then you have body Chakra. You have key points in your entire body. Block one of those and your Chakra won't flow properly. Block too many and it can kill you. So you gather both Chakras at the bottom of your feet. Then you have to expel it from your body to make yourself climb up the wall or a tree. You can even walk on water, but that's way more difficult than with something solid. If you expel too much Chakra, you could break a wall or tree trunk. Expel too little and you fall and hit your head, most likely."

I paused to let Robin memorize everything. He glanced at the wall.

"And what's that thing you do with your hands?" he asked.

"You mean this?" I asked, putting my hands together to form the ram zodiac sign. Robin nodded. "Certain Jutsus require hand signs. Put your pointer and middle finger up with your hands together, like so," I showed him with both pointer and middle fingers facing straight up, "and that's the sign for tiger. You have to do them pretty fast if you want to get your Jutsu out there, especially during times of battle. I usually use tiger to concentrate on my Chakra."

"How do you know you're expelling Chakra to a body part?" Robin asked.

I shrugged.

"Well you can't tell unless you do a Jutsu or climb the wall," I said. "I highly doubt you could do it. You haven't trained with Chakra. I wouldn't even attempt it if I were you."

Robin nodded.

"Maybe." I turned back to the wall and concentrated Chakra to my feet. Gripping the kunai, I ran at the wall and went a little higher, scratching the wall once I felt my grip slip. "Maybe you shouldn't overdo it."

I snorted.

"I have to get better."

"By wearing yourself out?"

I grinned at him.

"That's why they call it 'training'."

Robin shook his head, his brow furrowed.

"Ninjas…"

Chuckling, I turned back to the wall and attempted to go even higher. Around lunch I finally made it to the ceiling, which was very high up.

"Time to eat!" I said with much enthusiasm.

"Just don't go throwing it up this time," Robin said as we headed for the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah," I said with an amused grin.

We were silent for a while as we walked down several hallways.

"Have you really thought this through?" Robin suddenly asked.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Thought what through?"

Robin's eyes narrowed slightly.

"The whole Slade being your master thing."

I snorted.

"Yes, I have," I said. "Quite frankly, I don't care if they are still alive or not. Besides, it's better to just do as he says and to stop protesting about it. I want the Titans alive just as much as you do. It's better this way."

"For you maybe," Robin said, clearly angry about my decision.

I snorted and stopped.

"Do what you want," I said. "If you want to find a way out of this situation, then fine by me. But I'm devoted to the only person who told me who I was. If they truly had been my friends, they wouldn't have kept it a secret. I always thought I couldn't fit in with them. I was jealous of them. Haven't you ever felt that way when you were with the Titans?"

Robin and I stared intently at each other for a long time.

"What happened to you?" Robin asked.

Shaking his head, he walked away. I glared after him.

"I've stopped being stupid, that's what happened," I said to myself. Losing my appetite, I decided to return to my room instead to take a small nap before training again. Maybe if I took my sleep medication, I would be even more refreshed when I woke back up. I soon reached my room and opened my desk drawer where I kept my pill bottles. I blinked in confusion. "Where are they?"

The bottles were gone. Yawning, I decided to ask Slade later. I got into bed, staring up at the ceiling. My eyes slowly drooped down and then closed. Rolling onto my right side, I drifted off to sleep.

Something didn't seem right. I felt a strange sensation all over my body. Even my insides felt strange. And where was I? There was darkness all around me. Now my head hurts. I placed a hand to it, gritting my teeth as the pain increased. Clenching my eyes shut, I growled.

"What do you mean we're not your friends?"

I suddenly fell to one knee as the pain was too unbearable. I heard their voices all around me and in my head. Placing both hands on my head, I cried out in pain. The voices grew louder.

"Sh-Shut up…" I breathed out. "J-Just shut-GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Bolting up, I leaned over the side of my bed and vomited. My body was shaking. I flinched when I felt a hand land on my back.

"Are you alright?" It was Slade. I groaned in pain. I had a massive headache. Sweat was pouring down my body and it was terribly hot. I hissed in surprise when Slade placed a gloveless hand to my forehead. "You're burning up."

I chuckled despite my queasy stomach and migraine.

"That's what happens when I overdo it," I said, slowly leaning back to lie back down. Rolling over, I clutched my stomach with my arms, my body still shaking. "My nightmare is what woke me up actually."

"Your nightmare?" Slade asked.

I closed my eyes.

"I was in total darkness and my body felt weird," I said. "I can't describe the feeling. Then I heard voices and the louder they got, the worse my head hurt." Slade ran his hand through my sweaty hair. I groaned, feeling sick all over again. "I-I need to get up. I think I'm going to puke again."

Wobbling out of bed, I stumbled towards the bathroom, feeling dizzy. I placed a hand to my head. Reaching the toilet, I lifted the lid and seat and hovered over the bowl. Closing my eyes, I heaved. I coughed on the foul taste in my mouth and at the back of my throat.

"You might be having withdrawals," Slade said behind me.

I glanced at him.

"Withdrawals from what?" I asked.

"I took you off your medication five days ago," Slade said. "We might need to put you through relapse and then wane you off them."

Looking away, I coughed. Put me back on them? I was getting so used to being off them.

"Yes Slade-sama," I said.

There really was no room to argue. Besides, my head was hurting too much to argue.

"I will put you back on them tomorrow night," Slade said. I tried to stand. Slade helped me to my feet. "I will give you anti-nausea/fever pills so you can sleep."

"Thanks."

Slade left while I stepped up to the sink to splash cold water on my face. I pushed my hair back with water to keep it off my forehead. I was definitely taking a nice bath in the morning. Leaving the bathroom after washing my hands and drinking some of the sink water, I got back into bed on the other side. Falling back to sleep in sweat wasn't a great idea. Slade returned with a bottle in hand. I took two of the pills with some water. He placed a cold washcloth on my forehead. Closing my eyes, I tried to sleep.

Hours later and I was trying to eat a slice of toast for breakfast. I felt so weak and tired. My head hurt a little bit, but the ibuprofen was helping to reduce the migraine and fever. Robin kept glancing worriedly at me. I gave him a weak smile.

"I'll be fine," I said. "Nothing a warm bath and bed can't cure."

Robin looked away and continued eating his bowl of army-preserved oatmeal. I sipped my cold water. My stomach was still a little queasy. Swallowing the rest of my toast, I carefully stood up and headed back for my room. I filled my bathtub with warm water once I got there and then quickly got in. I relaxed in it for twenty minutes before washing up. Once I was done, I felt better already. I got back into bed, which the sheets had been changed thanks to Wintergreen, and laid down. Closing my eyes, I tried to sleep.

My eyes were wide open as I stared up at the blank ceiling. This was getting ridiculous. I was dead tired but I couldn't keep my eyes closed. A loud sigh passed my throat. Getting back up, I decided to watch Robin's training. I soon arrived at the training room. Going off to the side, I sat and watched as Robin attacked several Slade-bots at once. He knocked three down with his staff and then kicked another in the chest, making it crash into another bot. Once all the robots had been taken down, he placed his staff away and sighed. I grinned.

"Getting bored of fighting robots?" I asked.

He looked at me.

"If I could make clones of myself like you can, I would make one," he said. "I've lost count of how many of these things I've helped destroy in the past. It gets old after a while."

I yawned before making a few hand signs. A clone appeared. It was lying on the ground, looking dead. I sweat dropped.

"I guess I can't help you with your boredom," I said sheepishly. The clone vanished. "See if Slade will fight you."

Robin snorted.

"Fighting him is just as boring because I can never win," he said. I shrugged. "Shouldn't you be in bed by the way?"

"I couldn't sleep," I said. "I've tried but my eyes won't stay closed. Those blue pills would be nice to have right now."

Robin frowned.

"I thought you hated taking them?"

I yawned.

"Yeah, well, I have to start taking them again," I said. "Slade thinks I'm having withdrawals. He's putting me back on so that I can wane off them instead. I'm going into relapse; joy right?" Robin looked uneasy for some reason. "Something wrong?"

He shook his head right away.

"No, nothing," he said, turning his back.

I yawned again, feeling tired again. Standing up, I headed out.

"I might be able to go to bed now," I said. "Night."

"Yeah…"

Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the training room and returned to mine. Getting back into bed and closing my eyes, I finally drifted off to sleep.